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| Former Jackets Standout #50 Robert Jones puts up a shot in a game vs Black Hawk College. Jones is in his first year at Clinton Community College, Clinton, Iowa |
November 2, 2011
Clinton CC opens its basketball season tonight
CLINTON — Second-year Clinton Community College basketball coach Joe Shovlain is positive the 2011-2012 Cougars' season will be nothing like last year's campaign when Clinton finished with a 3-24 record, was 0-14 in Iowa Community College Division II action and lost its final eight games.
"The team got better in every game we played, but there were always reasons for losing," Shovlain said. "Even then we were only blown out three or four times, that by Kirkwood, DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College) and Ellsworth. We lost five or six games in overtime. Several times it was the coach's fault when he benched three to five players for disciplinary reasons. Now, with the exception of two players, they are gone."
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| Former Jackets Standout Robert Jones at Clinton Community College |
But, Shovlain said, fans will see a different type of team this winter, beginning tonight when the Cougars open the season with a 7:30 p.m. home game against Black Hawk College at Clinton High School’s Yourd Gymnasium.
"We have tried to change everything about our recruiting process, and this year we have brought in 11 new guys with two returnees, Rico Phillips and Antoine Brown," Shovlain said. "We have tried to eliminate the 'one and done' athlete, a player who would be on the squad for only one year or less.
"This year will definitely be a rebuilding year. We hope in the future to need only six or seven players instead of the 11 we needed this year and not have to rebuild every year. We still hope to have a good season for we have good talent and we should play good basketball.
"In our recruiting process we emphasized grades and character. Each player needed three reference-of-character letters as we changed the chemistry around our program. It may take a year to get to where we want to be, but we'll do it the right way."
Phillips is a 6-foot guard from St. Paul, Minn., a graduate of Como Park High School. He saw action in 26 games and made 60 of 147 field goal attempts and arched in 7 of 36 3-point field goal attempts. From the free-throw line he was 32 of 56. Phillips scored 159 points (6.1 a game). He also had 107 assists and 66 turnovers. He came up with 37 steals, blocked six shots and pulled down 61 rebounds, 48 of them off the defensive boards.
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"We will definitely be vertically challenged," Shovlain said. "To counter our lack of height we will be using our quickness, hustle and teamwork. Offensively, we will be spreading the floor with set plays for specific shots. Defensively, we can press (full or half-court), use man-to-man or zone."
The Cougars have only a pair of 6-5 players and three at 6-4. Matching Brown's 6-4 height are Michael Sauer, a forward-guard from St. Paul, and forward-center DeVaughn Cole-Rodney from Brampton, Ontario, Canada, who attended New Creations Prep in Richmond, Ind.
Dane Barun and Robert Jones are the tallest Cougars at 6-5. Barun is from St. Albans, Australia, and Jones is a graduate of Leesburg (Fla.) High School. Barun attended Maribyrnong (a Melbourne suburb) Academy. Both play either center or forward.
Area graduates on the Cougars' roster are Taylor Roth from Camanche High School and Andrew Temperly from Clinton High. Both are listed at 6-2 and can play either guard or forward.
Other newcomers include Virshaun Grant, a Davenport North graduate, and Richard Hurt, who graduated from Davenport Central. Both are guards — Grant is 5-10 and Hurt 6-1.
Coming south from St. Paul are another pair of guards, Marcus Gustafson and Demtri Conwell, with Ryan Frazier (a 6-3 forward-guard) coming across the Canadian border from Brathwaite Secondary School in Brampton. Gustafson (5-6) graduated from Como Park High, as did Phillips, and Conwell, 6-2, is a Johnson High School grad.
"We participated in the Juco Jamboree at Cedar Falls and have scrimmaged Mount Mercy, Clarke and St. Ambrose," Shovlain said. "At Cedar Falls we looked a little shaky against Triton College (River Grove, Ill.), but we picked up against St. John's Military and Rochester (Minn.) Community and Technical College. Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose are both very tall teams against whom we had our troubles, but we did well against Clarke."
Shovlain's starting lineup against Black Hawk has Grant and Phillips at guard, Frazer and Brown on the wings with Jones at center. First players off the bench include Roth, Barun and Hurt.
"We are showing a lot of improvement every day," Shovlain said. "We are a work in progress and have to have a total team effort. We don't have any one standout and need a group effort to be successful.
"This is a great group to work with, coachable players who listen. The game against Black Hawk will be a tough game. There are several players on the team from last year's state champion Rock Island team and other Quad City standouts.”
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| 2011 Clinton Community College Basketball Team |
Favored to win the Division II Iowa Community College Athletic Conference title are perennial favorites Kirkwood and Des Moines Area Community College.
"All teams are tough from the top to the bottom (of the conference)," he said. "We have a pretty tough schedule with non-conference teams better, also. There are no 'slam-dunk' wins on the list. We have to play our best at all times to win. Our goal is to finish .500 overall. The schedule may help with our first four games at home and 15 home games total."
Aiding Shovlain as assistant coach is his son, Steve.
"I've been very blessed to have Steve as my assistant," said Joe Shovlain, who has been hampered with an ankle problem. "We have planned practice sessions together and Steve conducts the practice and has conducted our scrimmages as game coach. Without him I really would have struggled. He is a good up-and-coming coach."
Resources
Herald Sports Writer
Clinton Herald
November 2, 2011Article provided by:
Gerald Lacey
Staff Writer
Carver Heights Quarterback Club
www.leesburgyellowjacketsbasketball.com
leesburgyellowjacketsfootball@yahoo.com
1986 Varsity Jackets Football Lettermen #82
Class of 1988 Leesburg High School
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